Handheld device for counting technical actions of individual players in sport games involving balls

ABSTRACT

According to the present invention, there is provided a handheld device for counting technical actions of an individual player in a sports game involving a ball, the handheld device including a housing sized to be handheld, a plurality of buttons in the housing including count-advancing buttons to respectively additively count the technical actions and a count-zeroing button to reset each count, a memory in the housing operatively connected to the buttons to store respective counts of the technical actions, a display in the housing operatively connected to the memory to display respective counts of the technical actions, and a power source in the housing operatively connected to the memory and the display.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a handheld device for counting technical or skill-based actions of individual players in sports games involving balls, for example, Australian rules football, American football, Gaelic football, rugby union, rugby league, soccer, cricket, softball, baseball, netball, basketball, hockey, handball, ice hockey, etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sport games involving balls require individual players to perform a variety of technical or skill-based actions during the course of a game, for example, marking, catching, kicking, tackling, goal shooting, goal scoring, goal assisting, foot passing, hand passing, bowling, throwing, contesting, etc. The performance of individual players in a sport game is generally assessed by summed or total counts of various different technical actions that they perform during the course of the game. However, keeping complete and accurate counts of multiple different technical actions by individual players over the entire duration of a game is generally difficult or at least inconvenient for coaches, commentators, spectators, statisticians, etc.

A need therefore exists for a simple and easy-to-use handheld device to enable coaches, commentators, spectators, statisticians, etc of sport ball games to conveniently and accurately keep count of multiple different technical actions of individual players.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a handheld device for counting technical actions of an individual player in a sports game involving a ball, the handheld device including a housing sized to be handheld, a plurality of buttons in the housing including count-advancing buttons to respectively additively count the technical actions and a count-zeroing button to reset each count, a memory in the housing operatively connected to the buttons to store respective counts of the technical actions, a display in the housing operatively connected to the memory to display respective counts of the technical actions, and a power source in the housing operatively connected to the memory and the display.

The count-advancing buttons can respectively correspond to predetermined skills/technical actions. One or more of the count-advancing buttons can be reserved for a user-defined technical action. The buttons can further include a count-decreasing button to subtract a count from the count of the last-pressed count-advancing button.

The sport game involving a ball can be one of Australian-rules football, American football, Gaelic football, rugby union, rugby league, soccer, cricket, softball, baseball, netball, basketball, tennis, 10 pin bowling, lawn bowls, badminton, squash, volley ball, hockey, and ice hockey etc.

The housing preferably is shaped in at least two dimensions to generally correspond to the ball used in the game and can have a generally ovate or circular two-dimensional shape which corresponds to the two-dimensional shape of the ball used in the game. The device can further include a lanyard secured to the housing to prevent the device from being dropped and damaged during use.

The power source can be a battery and/or a solar panel. The display can be an LCD or Active Matrix display. A clock can also be operatively connected to the display in the housing to thereby enable the display to indicate elapsed playing time of the game. The housing includes a reset button to reset all counts. The housing can further include an on/off button to switch the handheld device on and off.

The device can further include a controller or a processor to selectively and individually control one or more of the buttons, the memory, the counts, the clock, the display and the power source.

In a highly preferred embodiment, the device includes a data interface to transmit and/or receive data. By the data interface, the device can interact with a remote website for the transferring of recent skill counts to a web-based database, and the transferring of significant data points of interest such as personal bests, averages against the user and against other users in the database between the database and the handheld unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described solely by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGS. 1A-C are schematic front, side and top views of an embodiment of a handheld device for counting technical actions of an individual player in an Australian-rules football game according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the Australian-rules football embodiment illustrating an example screenshot of the display;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an American football embodiment illustrating an example screenshot of the display;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a soccer embodiment illustrating an example screenshot of the display;

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a netball embodiment illustrating an example screenshot of the display;

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a cricket embodiment illustrating an example screenshot of the display;

FIG. 6 is a schematic outline of the interaction between components of an embodiment of the handheld device; and

FIGS. 9A and B are examples of the interaction between a handheld device and an interactive website.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1A-C illustrate a handheld device 100 for counting technical actions of an individual player in an Australian Rules football game. The device 100 includes a housing 102 sized to be handheld and shaped to have a generally ovate or circular two-dimensional shape which corresponds to the two-dimensional shape of the ball used in the game.

FIG. 1A illustrates that the housing 102 has a generally ovate two-dimensional shape which corresponds to the two-dimensional shape of an Australian-rules football. The device 100 can further include a lanyard (not shown) secured to the housing 102 to prevent the device 100 from being dropped and damaged during use.

The housing 102 includes predetermined count-advancing buttons 104 to respectively additively count technical actions. A user-defined (or new) count-advancing button 106 is reserved to count a user-defined technical action. For Australian-rules football, the technical or skill-based actions respectively associated with the predetermined count-advancing buttons 104 can, for example, include kicks, handballs, marks, tackles, goals, hard ball grabs, etc. The technical or skill-based actions associated with the spare count-advancing button 106 can, for example, include ruck hit-outs, shots on goal, free kicks, etc,

To enable a user to correct a miscount, a count-decreasing (or undo) button 108 is provided to subtract a count from the count of the last-pressed count-advancing button 104, 106. A count-zeroing (or reset) button 110 is provided to zero all counts at the end of a game so that the device 100 can be reused.

The housing 102 also includes a memory operatively connected to the buttons to store counts of each technical action, and a display 112 operatively connected to the memory for displaying counts of each technical action, lle display 112 can be, for example, an LCD display. FIGS. 2A-B illustrate example printed circuit board layouts for the internal digital components of the device 100. A clock can also be operatively connected to the display in the housing to thereby enable the display 112 to indicate elapsed playing time of the game. The clock can be actuated by one of the count-advancing button 104, 106, for example the first-pressed count-advancing button 104, 106, and can reset by the count-zeroing (or reset) button 110. A power source (not shown) is operatively connected to the memory, the display 112 and the clock in the housing 102. The power source can be, for example, a battery and/or a solar panel. The solar panel can be provided in or about the display 112. An on/off button (not shown) is also recessed in the back of the housing 102 to switch the device 100 on and off. In addition, the device 100 can include a controller or a processor to selectively and individually control one or more of the buttons 104, 106, 108, the memory, the counts, the clock, the display 112 and the power source. If implemented, the processor can be used to manipulate and process data realiting to the counts of the technical actions.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example screenshot 114 of the display 112 in which counts for each technical action are simultaneously displayed to a user, for example, a coach, a commentator, a spectator, a statistician, etc. The screenshot 114 illustrates that the elapsed playing time of the game can also be displayed to the user on the display 112.

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the device 100 implemented for use by coaches, commentators, spectators, statisticians, etc, of American football. In this embodiment, the technical or skill-based actions respectively associated with the predetermined count-advancing buttons 104, 106 can, for example, include touchdowns, passing yards, rushing yards, sacks, catches, field goals, blocks, interceptions, tackles, etc.

An alternative embodiment of the device 100 is depicted in FIG. 5 for use by coaches, commentators, spectators, statisticians, etc, of soccer. Here, the technical or skill-based actions associated with the predetermined count-advancing buttons 104, 106 can, for example, include dribbles, goals, long balls, passes, headers, tins, etc.

FIG. 6 illustrates a netball embodiment of the device 100 in which the technical or skill based actions respectively associated with the predetermined count-advancing buttons 104, 106 can, for example, include passes, interceptions, catches, stepping, goals, off-sides, defensive rebounds, pivoting, etc.

A cricket embodiment of the device 100 of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 7. In this embodiment, the technical or skill-based actions respectively associated with the predetermined count-advancing buttons 104, 106 can, for example, include singles, fours, sixes, bowleds, catches, leg-before-wickets, stumpings, run-outs, etc.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the interaction of components of an embodiment of the device having a data interface and FIGS. 9A and B are examples of the interaction between the handheld device and an interactive website. As shown, the sample screenshot 114 corresponds to the information displayed on the website. In this example of an interactive display 112, the display is an Active Matrix display. By the data interface 116, the device interacts with the remote website for the transferring of recent skill counts to a web-based database, and the transferring of significant data points of interest such as personal bests, averages against the user and against other users in the database between the database and the handheld unit.

It will be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention provide a simple and easy-to-use handheld device that enables coaches, commentators, spectators, statisticians, etc of sport ball games to conveniently and accurately keep count of multiple different technical actions of individual players.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments that have been described and depicted, but variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sport games described hereinbefore, but may be implemented for any and all conventional sport games involving balls, and any and all combinations of technical or skill-based actions performed by individual players thereof. 

1. A handheld device for counting technical actions of an individual player in a sports game involving a ball, the handheld device including a housing sized to be handheld, a plurality of buttons in the housing including count-advancing buttons to respectively additively count the technical actions and a count-zeroing button to reset each count, a memory in the housing operatively connected to the buttons to store respective counts of the technical actions, a display in the housing operatively connected to the memory to display respective counts of the technical actions, and a power source in the housing operatively connected to the memory and the display.
 2. A device according to claim 1 in which the count-advancing buttons respectively correspond to predetermined skills/technical actions.
 3. A device according to claim 2 in which one or more of the count-advancing buttons is reserved for a user-defined technical action,
 4. A device according to claim 3 in which the buttons include a count-decreasing button to subtract a count from the count of the last-pressed count-advancing button.
 5. A device according to claim 4 including a clock operatively connected to the display in the housing to thereby enable the display to indicate elapsed playing time of the game.
 6. A device according to claim 5 including a controller or a processor to selectively and individually control one or more of the buttons, the memory, the counts, the clock, the display and the power source.
 7. A device according to claim 6 including a data interface adapted to transmit and/or receive data.
 8. A device according to claim 7 in which the housing is shaped in at least two dimensions to generally correspond to the ball used in the game.
 9. A device according to claim 8 in which the housing has a generally ovate or circular two-dimensional shape which corresponds to the two-dimensional shape of the ball used in the game.
 10. A system for counting and analysing technical actions of an individual player in a sports game involving a ball, the system including a handheld device according to claim 7, and a website adapted to interact with the device,
 11. A system according to claim 10 in which the handheld device uses the data interface to interact with a database on the website.
 12. A system according to claim 11 adapted to allow the transferring of recent skill counts to the database, and the transferring of significant data points of interest such as personal bests, averages against the user and against other users in the database between the web-based database and the handheld unit. 